Nano-reef without the reef?

Aquarius0015

Aquarius0015

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Sep 29, 2003
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I didn't want to hijack DaShark's thread any longer!

I am going to get a 5-7 gallon tank for my dorm this year. It really can't be any bigger, I've got my reasons. Originally it was going to be 4-5, but I've talked myself into a 5-7 MAX.

I do have some experience with small FW tanks and I feel pretty confident in my ability to keep a small FW tank stable (my first case of ich was my only real problem last year). However, I admit there's so much I don't have a clue about.

People who know much better than I led me to believe a single cichlid in a nano-tank is not a good idea, but I was wondering if a single clown fish (or maybe a damselfish or 2 gobies, I really have no idea), a shrimp and some liverock would be ok in a nano-tank? I have always wanted a SW tank since I was a boy. However, I don't really want to keep corals. They sound like too much work unless I could find the "java fern" of the coral world.

Several people on nano-reef.com boards have more heavily stocked nano-tanks than the one I'm proposing, but frankly I don't know those people and I don't trust them as much as I trust you guys. Articles on nano-reef.com itself say that clown fish are appropriate for some nano-reefs. Still, I'm leery. If it sounds too good to be true...
 
Ok, forgive my newbie mistake, I've learned the name of what I want: FOWLR. Ta-da. And every time I think about how much I want a SW tank I keep upping the gallon limit. I'm entertaining a 10. Ay ay ay, what's wrong with me?

I have so many good reasons not to have anything that big...
 
you gonna have a fuge? im setting up a 40 gallon and with all the water thats going to be dispersed by the liverock im setting up atleast a 29 gallon under as a sump/fuge to hold more water and sand.

im new with salt too but im sure you can get something setup in the 10 a pair ofdamsels and maybe a snail or 2 should work.
 
Just thought of something (i am really trying to find a way for this to work)...

I don't understand the difference between a sump and a fuge, I just know that a lot of people have secondary tanks which adds to water volume and makes things much more stable. However, is it possible to make a Rubber-maid container into a fuge and/or sump? The less fragile equipment I have to move and the less heavy things are, the better.
 
it is definately do-able. what type of fish are you considering? you will need to get quite a bit of live rock for that tank though. why are you not interested in it being a reef?

i bought a 10 gallon wall mart special which was on sale for 25 bucks with incandesent hood(two screw in bulbs)
i bought 2 PC screw in 13 watt lights (7.99 a pop)
and a minijet 404 (12..99)

i would recommend getting the pc lights even if you were not planning on keepin anykind of corals just because it makes the tank look about 100 times better.
 
The 10 gallon with a rubbermaid sump woud be very do-able. With the lights caz suggests, any corals on the live rock would likely thrive. Add a single smaller clown, like a percula or oscellaris, a few cleaners, and you're set.

Some concerns to address first: Will you be able to provide daily attention to the tank? Evaporation in small tanks can cause serious swings in salinity, so either daily manual topoffs or an auto topoff system will be required. Second--portability. How often will it be moved? Moving is traumatic for the entire system--all the microcrustaceans, bacteria--as well as the fish. If the tank will be torn down and moved once every 6 months or so, you can likely swing it, but if it will be more frequently, I'd forego getting the tank until you can provide it with more stability. Think of a rose bush--while you likely could keep it alive, moving it around a couple times a year, it's never going to thrive as well as one that's allowed more stability.
 
Caz, I wasn't planning on getting corals (unless there is a coral equivalent of java fern--- super hard to kill) because they are so darn expensive and I don't want to end up with a few hundred dollars of dead corals. I know that SW can be expensive, but I also have real world things like car insurance and gasoline (and college loans to save up for), so I need to keep any expenses in check.

OG, from what I understand you only need to spend a few minutes a day on a SW tank, not too much more than FW. I'm a pretty conscientious person. At home during summer I have to top-off our horses' water troughs daily, a slightly bigger task. :D

I'm worried that I move too much, though. My home is about 4 hours away from my school. In the course of a year, I move to school in August (1), home for winter break and back again in a month (2,3), home in May (4). The other concerns are Thanksgiving (a four day break, with me returning on the fourth day) and spring break (a full week). Last year I left my FW tank at school over spring break, but I doubt I could do the same with a SW tank. That would be trips 5 and 6.
 
i wouldnt recommend doing it then :( mine needs to be topped off every day, or atleast every two. although i do not think the maintanence isnt what everyone makes it out to be, i think moving it that many times would not be worth it. sorry :(
 
Sorry to be a downer. Didn't imply that you weren't going to care for it, I just recall from my college days the number of times I was sure I would be back to my room that night, only to end up being away for 3-4 days at a time. A tank would have suffered in my care at the time! The individual maintenance needs are not demanding, it's just the frequency that can be tough. If I lived by myself now, I couldn't have my 10--I'm gone for 3-5 days at a time every other month or so, and the tank just can't go without it's topoffs for those days.
 
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